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Controversy at Chavez/Lee Weigh-in a Sign of Things to Come in Texas?

Texas is a state that has been mired in boxing controversy in recent years, but that doesn’t seem to concern their commission officials enough to make them ensure a level playing field, apparently.

Moments ago at the weigh-in for tomorrow’s World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight championship fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and top contender Andy Lee, representatives of Lee requested to weigh both camp’s gloves.

That request was denied by Texas Commission Sports Inspector Robert Tapia.

“They brought their own gloves and we brought ours,” explained Lee’s manager, Perry Mandera, “so we thought in the interest of full disclosure and a level playing field, we would weigh both pairs. We weighed ours out in the open in front of everyone. They would not put theirs on the scale. So, I requested Robert Tapia to make them do it. He told me ‘I’m the boss here. I say whether or not we inspect the gloves and we’re not going to.'”

Mandera says he then requested Chavez trainer Freddy Roach to weigh the gloves in the spirit of fairness. “He pushed past me and said ‘we don’t have to, so we’re not going to.'”

Lee’s team say after today’s incident, they are left hoping there won’t be any other questionable conduct surrounding this fight.

“We just want everything fair. I don’t know why they wouldn’t drop the gloves on a scale to remove any doubt about a pair of gloves they brought themselves. Yes, it’s a new pair, but you ever buy a pair of shoes that say size 10 and they’re not? That’s all we were trying to resolve. So why won’t they weigh the gloves?”